Mohan Mandali

Air Quality Issues

Define the following terms

Carcinogen: NICK: Any substance that can produce cancer in organisms.
Volatile organic compounds: CATIE: an organic chemical that has a low boiling point and a high vapor pressure at normal room temperature conditions.
Thermal Inversion: CATIE: this is an animated picture of thermal inversion
Normal Conditions
Thermal Inversion conditions

Answer the following questions
Compare and contrast Primary air pollutants, Secondary air pollutants, Criteria air pollutants.
Catie: Primary air pollutants= types of unmodified materials that when released into the environment in sufficient quantities are considered hazardous. They include carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and sulfur dioxide. They can interact with sunlight to form new compounds, known as secondary air pollutants.
Secondary air pollutants= pollutants produced by the interaction of primary air pollutants in the presence of an appropriate energy source. An example of secondary air pollutants is ozone.
Criteria air pollutants= Those air pollutants for which specific air quality standards have been set by the United States Enviornmental Protection Agency. The six criteria air pollutants are carbon monoxide, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, lead and ozone.

Describe the different effects of natural and manufactured air pollutants:




Argue which pollutant you deem to be the worst:



What is the Clean Air Act?



Describe some effects of air pollution on aquatic ecosystems?


Describe the greenhouse effect:



Describe Some health effects due to air pollution



Watch the Video and answer the following question.

Describe why the problem is so serious in China?



Discuss ways to help reduce the problem?



What is the problem in this video?